Chapter Summary: Gladio and Ignis have a chat during the storm.

The rain was still coming down. Big, fat drops hammered the sturdy fabric of the tent and completely drowned out all other sound save for the occasional roll of ominous thunder. Visibility had gotten so poor they'd been forced off the road. Lucky for them they'd found a haven nearby, otherwise it was pretty unlikely they could have made it to safety before the sun went down. Though, just this once, Gladio admittedly wouldn't have minded taking on a few daemons if it meant making it to civilization and maybe the answers to quiet the daemons lurking in his own head.

Not that everyone wasn't hurting for some good news. The others were quiet and withdrawn, none willing to compete with the steady drum of the downpour just beyond their modest shelter.

Noctis had worked himself into such a state earlier that Gladio's honestly shocked to his toenails the prince agreed to pulling over. But the kid's obviously exhausted, conked out on his bedroll and deceptively still, almost like any other time he managed to get himself horizontal. The news of the Fall and his father's passing really took it out of him and they'd all been going nonstop ever since. The Amicitia was gonna have to keep an extra close eye on his charge over the next few days. Astrals knew Noct didn't need to work himself into a stasis on top of everything else.

Prompto's curled up only a handful of inches away from Noctis, though his rest was more fitful. Every so often the blond would stir, shifting marginally before intermittently drifting off again or staring up blankly at the tent's low ceiling. No telling what terrors were haunting the poor guy's dreams. None of them had been prepared for what happened to Insomnia — to their families. Gladio wasn't certain when the last time Prompto had even gotten the chance to see his parents, but regardless of the lackluster involvement in their son's life, the loss likely still weighed on someone as tender-hearted as Prompto.

Glancing up from the two young men sprawled prone on the sleeping mats, Gladio spotted Ignis on the far side of the tent where he was, not surprisingly, still very much awake and busying himself with memorizing their map of Leide, presumably compiling a list of possibilities for why Cor would want them in Hammerhead of all places. Given the events of the last forty-eight hours, it was doubtful the advisor would sleep at all tonight in favor of standing guard over his prince and fellow retainers, as if the new king's shield wasn't sitting perfectly useless a little more than an arm's length away. Gladio tried not to take that personally; Iggy's protective instincts were off the charts under normal circumstances and these circumstances were about as far removed from normal as they could get.

So Gladio thought a small lapse in vigilance was excusable when Ignis, having moved across the tent without drawing attention to himself, spoke up and near gave him a freaking heart attack. "Gladio, are you alright?"

Gladio willed the tempo of his heart back down to something a little less frantic before taking a deep, slow breath, just to show off how perfectly calm and relaxed he was – and not about to jump out of his Astral forsaken, rain soaked skin. "Just peachy, what's up?"

Iggy narrowed his eyes in the darkness with that subtle way of his when he came across some puzzle or turn of phrase he found particularly foolish or illogical. Still, the dragon kept his voice low and mostly free of accusation as to not disturb their dosing companions. "I realize this has been difficult for you, Gladio. Please, know can speak freely with me. How are you holding up?"

Gladio had to keep from rolling his eyes. Trust Iggy to pick up on such things when they had so much bigger problems to deal with. The Empire could come down on them at any moment with the literal fleets of airships that now had free reign over Lucian skies. The former prince and last air to the throne was sleeping in a shabby tent, utterly dependent on three inexperienced protectors. For all they knew the crownsguard and glaive forces were both decimated and beyond helping them. And Ignis wanted to know how he was holding up? The answer should have been obvious – he was now the king's shield – anything he felt was inconsequential to the monumental task that now stood before them all. He wasn't allowed to feel grief for his father, who'd doubtless done his duty and died in King Regis' defense. He didn't have room for looming uncertainty over the fate of his little sister. He couldn't sit and worry over any of his friends and family that had been trapped in Insomnia when the Empire invaded. No. He had to focus on the here and now, and anything else was going to be shoved deep down to the darkest depths of his heart where it could feed the vengeful fire building in his gut so he could do his Astral given job and do it well. And Ignis could just wipe that sympathetic, knowing stare right off his overly perceptive mug. "Don't get your tail in a knot over it, I'm fine. 'Sides, in case you haven't noticed, we got bigger problems to stress over."

Ignis huffed, not at all riled by Gladio's dismissive words. "Right, you'll have to excuse my stressing. We do indeed have quite the undertaking ahead of us. But know, should you ever change your mind, the offer still stands." The dragon did not move away after he'd said his peace. If anything he situated himself closer than before, giving off a comforting warmth by his mere proximity.

Gladio found the fussing startlingly similar to their very first meeting, back when he didn't have a clue and Iggy had still been skittish about showing his true self to anyone besides Noct and his uncle – his uncle who worked in the citadel.

Right, Ignis was probably just as burnt up and unable to express it as Gladio. It was hard sometimes to remember how sensitive and compassionate the dragon really was. He wore a just as effective – if not more so – mask as the Amicitia. What was really going on inside that noggin of his was always hard to say, but Gladio suspected there was some mutual picking apart of invisible clues no one could have picked up on along with a heaping helping of undeserved self-blame.

Gladio sighed, sometimes it really did suck to understand a problem but be pretty useless at solving it. He knew what was bugging Iggy, just as the dragon knew what was bugging him, but neither of them were going to talk about it. Maybe a distraction was the best compromise. "You get through to anyone yet?"

Ignis shook his head. "I'm afraid I've been unable to reach any of my contacts. Beyond the Empire's propaganda it seems the marshal's word is all we have to rely on at present."

Gladio suddenly wished for something more than the thin walls of the tent separating them form the all the turmoil in the world. Things were going to be so different from now on.

That brought on another thought. "How are you doing with the magic brain link, mumbo jumbo?" Unlike Gladio, Ignis was deeply connected to Noctis through more than just the armiger and oath of the crownsguard. Beyond magic and abilities, emotions could also seep through. If Ignis were to allow himself to experience the full brunt of his loss and pain Noctis would inevitably feel it as well. But this also meant that Iggy couldn't be getting anything less than an unprecedented surge of raw angst from the princess right now.

Ignis didn't reply right away, instead getting a sort of distant look in his eyes as he seemingly turned his attention inward. "Things are about as well as can be expected." Not surprisingly, the dragon didn't elaborate. He and Noct both tended to treat their connection as a matter of privacy. But before Gladio could decide if he wanted to pry, Ignis offered up an unexpected tidbit.

"There was an anomaly the night in Galdin."

Gladio raised an eyebrow in question, knowing Iggy wouldn't leave him hanging after volunteering something like that. The dragon had behaved a bit agitated that night in the suite, nervous over some sixth sense none of the rest of them had.

"I felt something when it happened," Ignis hesitantly confided. "I should have realized."

Somehow listening to Ignis ramping up to berate himself about things he couldn't have possibly known made it even harder to keep a lid on the fury burning beneath his own skin. "Oh yeah, and just what kind of precedence did you have to go off? I know you can only sense the magic in Noct and his father."

Ignis was quiet for a long moment. "That's not entirely accurate."

Well, this was news. Gladio waited for further explanation knowing Ignis wouldn't disappoint.

"The man, on the docks. There was something about him."

"That why you looked ready to bite his head off?" Curiosity piqued, Gladio turned to Ignis and found him looking very lost in thought, as if struggling with an ugly truth he didn't quite accept.

"There was a sense of power and… foreboding, like I've never felt before. I can't quite describe it, similar to the crystal's magic but disparate. It felt something darker and more dangerous," Ignis clarified.

Well, that actually made a bit of sense. Gladio had figured something had been up to make Ignis so openly hostile toward a random civilian. Sure, the guy that warned them of the boats being delayed had been straight up weird, but the dragon usually left such intimidation tactics to Gladio, more than happy to hang back and assess the threat while not drawing attention to himself unless deemed absolutely necessary. On the docks he had purposely positioned himself between the self-proclaimed "man of no consequence" and the rest of them, very nearly growling at the man to back off.

Bizarrely, that had only seemed to amuse the weirdo with the magenta hair. He'd even chuckled at the display, seemingly ignorant of the danger to his life should he make just one wrong move.

Gladio shook his head, reconsidering his stance on the odd stranger. "Huh, knew there was something off about that guy. Think we'll be seeing him again?"

The corner of Ignis' lips hooked downward in displeasure. "I fear it may be a likely possibility."

"So we'll keep an eye out." If nothing else, Gladio could put the dragon's mind at ease in this regard. "Though I doubt a guy like that could do much against the four of us."

"I suppose you're right. In any case, we should attempt to get at least a partial night's rest. We'll need the energy for whatever the marshal has in store."

Right. Tomorrow Gladio would finally have something to point all his pent up frustrations toward. At the very least, Cor would probably know something of what became of their families. It was something Gladio had to be ready to hear, for better or worse – though based on his luck lately... No, he wouldn't think like that yet. He wouldn't give up on Iris or the others just yet. And he wouldn't let his emotions get the better of him.

For now, he would wait and he would be strong for his king and his comrades – no matter what it cost. And in the meantime, if they ran into any creepy hobos he'd help Ignis take out the trash.

I'm really excited for the next update to drop. Two particular friends will be meeting for the first time and there's gonna be a lot of dragon action, so hope to see you guys next time. Thanks for reading!